Agitating paintball loaders are well known in the art of paintball sports, and operate by having a paintball agitator advance balls from the bottom of a loader into an outfeed tube. One problem with convention agitators is that a jam can occur, such as when a paintball becomes lodged in the agitator or feeder. In order to clear the jam, the paintball sport player must shake the loader.
Active or force feeding paintball loaders are technologically advanced loaders that use battery-operated motors to forcibly drive paintballs from the loader, into an outfeed tube, and into the breech of a paintball marker. Examples of such loaders can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,213,110, 6,502,567, 6,701,907, and 6,792,933, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein. As paintball loaders have evolved into electronically controlled devices capable of actively or forcibly feeding paintballs into a paintball gun, there has arisen a need for the loader to employ a mechanical backup system if a jam occurs.
Thus, there has arisen the need for a device that includes a mechanism for allowing the user to manually manipulate the motor driven system of an active feed paintball loader to clear paintball jams.